Timeline Attempt: The Second President Taft (A very, very rough draft)

Scene One: An Unexpectedly Impulsive Gesture

Earl Warren was normally an even-tempered man. He had successfully navigated the shoals of California politics as Attorney General and Governor. Although a Republican, his policies had won approval across the political spectrum. He had expected to move up to the Vice Presidency in 1948 ... but we all know how that worked out. He had hoped that this time, 1952, he could go all the way. If he was so popular in the nation's second largest state, why couldn't that translate into nationwide prominence and the Presidency?

He never expected to be the candidate of the most conservative elements of the GOP. They wanted Robert Taft, and they knew this would be Taft's last chance at the nomination. But Warren saw, to his frustration, that the large, moderate-to-progressive wing of the party had fallen like a giddy teenage girl to Dwight Eisenhower, the glamorous victor of the war in Europe. Never mind that no one seemed to know "Ike's" position on issues. Some thought he was even a Democrat. A number of Democrats had made fools of themselves in 1948, begging Eisenhower to lead their party to a victory that only he could deliver. But again that damned Harry Truman had forced through his own renomination and then won.

"If I had been the one leading the ticket things could have been different," mused Warren.

But Warren knew he was being hopelessly squeezed out. He held the California delegation as a favorite son. That was his only bargaining chip as the 1952 Republican National Convention began in Chicago.

But even that chip was in danger of being tossed away by ... NIXON? Warren always knew Nixon was trouble. Nixon seemed to think that the way to victory was to tear down his opponents and mobilize the right wing. And to be fair, he had done pretty well with that strategy in 1946, 1948 and 1950. But Warren didn't like that strategy, and he didn't much like Nixon either. And the feeling was mutual, as Warren well knew. Warren knew Nixon had been burrowing around inside the California delegation, trying to covertly build support for Eisenhower. There was even talk that Nixon was hoping to get on the ticket for VP.

"How in the hell can someone like Dick Nixon become Vice President when I couldn't," Warren asked himself. There was some personal pride involved, of course, but also a feeling that the Republican Party might be in danger, going into uncharted waters. They might nominate a man, Eisenhower, whose politics people did not really know. And his number two would be an immature political slasher. And so Earl Warren pondered the future ... he didn't see much of a national future for himself, but what would happen to his party?

"At least with Bob Taft you know where he stands and he would never double-cross you," Warren mused to himself.

And with that seemingly random thought, an idea began to form. Warren picked up the telephone. "Please connect me to Senator Taft's suite," Warren told the operator.

To be continued ...
 
Thanks ... I may not be following my outline exactly. I am hoping the creative process will inspire some flexibility in how this develops ...
 
OOC: this is taken from an actual NY Times article published on July 11, 1952. I was delighted to find it:


There were rumors, too, that Senator Taft, as a last-minute, never-give-up gesture, would even rally behind the candidacy of Governor Warren, who on domestic policy is so far to the left of Senator Taft that he often has been called a "me tooer" for the Fair Deal.
The only solid news about this was that the two men did talk over future convention developments. Each insisted there had been no deals made or discussed. Senator William F. Knowland of California, campaign manager for Governor Warren, believed he saw a convention deadlock ahead, and said that "at the present time the opportunity of nominating Earl Warren is greater than it ever has been."
 
New York Times: July 8, 1952



Taft in First Test Wins on Disputed Delegates, 618 to 588; M'Arthur Scores Truman's Rule

Chicago, Illinois: The forces of Senator Robert A. Taft won a bitterly contested floor fight on the status of their disputed Southern delegations. In a most unexpected development, the California delegation, thought by many to support the position of the Eisenhower forces, instead voted for the Taft position, after an impassioned plea by Governor Earl Warren: "We cannot and will not support the arguments of bad faith against Senator Taft and his delegations, because we know they are men of principle, whether or not one agrees with all of their principles ..."

This victory for Senator Taft continues his momentum towards the Republican Presidential nomination. However, Senator Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts, the floor manager for the Eisenhower campaign, argued that questions of electability will favor the former General and will swing delegates his way ...

In the meantime, former General Douglas MacArthur lashed out at the record of the Truman administration in his keynote address ...
 
Chicago Tribune, July 12, 1952:

Taft Defeats Eisenhower
"Mr. Republican" Wins on First Ballot
Names Driscoll as Running Mate
 
Excerpts from 1952 Republican Convention Acceptance Speeches:

Governor Alfred Driscoll of New Jersey, Nominee for Vice President:

"It is time to get our house in order. Republicans are cleaning up New Jersey and we will clean up Washington. We will provide the American people with honest government, for a change, and honest economic growth, for a change. The Democrats say they should win because of "prosperity." Well, if you let me write hot checks for tens of billions of dollars, I could give you the illusion of prosperity as well. We will guarantee economic prosperity through commerce, not borrowing; through honest labor, not government make work and handouts ..."


Senator Robert Taft of Ohio, Nominee for President:

"I call upon the American people to join us in a great crusade for the oldest of our values that is in danger of being forgotten ... liberty. We say no to forcing workingmen to join unions they don't agree with. We say no to confiscating the wealth of those who create it. We say no to tying up our country in foreign wars and entanglements. We say no to waging war without congressional approval. We say no to forcing young men into the army during peace time. In short, we say no to the imperial state and the imperial government!

We say yes to honest work. We say yes to honest business. We say yes to men deciding their own destiny in a framework of ordered liberty. We say yes to equal rights and opportunities for all of our citizens, whatever their race.

Come home, America! Come home from foreign entanglements and an alien form of government. Come home to liberty, prosperity and freedom!"
 

maverick

Banned
I very much approve of this...

So much that this was gonna be part of a WWII TL I was gonna write eventually, but meh, there's always Thomas Dewey and Adlai Stevenson :p

Oh, and personally, I would have chosen Bill Knowland as VP
 
From "Truman," by David McCulloch

Harry Truman allowed himself to become optimistic by October. Although he respected Robert Taft, he knew Taft was not an exciting campaigner. "The Republicans sure missed the bus when they passed over Ike," he told Sam Rayburn. "Taft is an honest man but he doesn't connect with the farmer or the workingman." Indeed, Senator Taft was known for his plodding speaking style. He scored best among people who read his remarks in the newspaper: less well among people who heard him on the radio: worst of all among people who saw him in newsreels or in person.

Truman was skeptical of polls. Why wouldn't he have been, after 1948? But even he was cheered by the steady progress of the Stevenson-Sparkman ticket. Campaigning on economic issues, Stevenson had erased the deficit between him and Taft and had even pulled slightly ahead by October 20. Adlai Stevenson started out a bit unfocused, so thought the President, but he hit the economic issue hard, pointing to Democratic prosperity. In one wildly successful speech in Madison Square Garden, Stevenson mocked the Republican criticisms of the Democratic performance: "Our friends on the other side of the aisle say this economy is an illusion, as if the American people have somehow imagined the millions of new homes, of new automobiles, of higher pay, of better food, and new educational opportunities. Apparently this beautiful cadillac automobile that drove me here is really just a magic carpet or a puff of air. They proclaim they want a return to realism. What is Republican realism but a retreat? A retreat back to times of penury and want. I believe the American people will accept the incidental problems of a growing economy, rather than the fundamental problem of a shrinking economy. It is better to have sometimes rising prices on ever more goods rather than falling prices on no goods. It is better to have occasional labor disputes in a growing workforce rather than the despairing peace of the unemployment line."

Stevenson was truly connecting with people through his sparkling oratory, showing reflections of another Illinois politician, Abraham Lincoln.

In the meantime, what did the Republicans have to offer? Taft and Driscoll were getting nowhere in the South. After splitting in 1948, the South was solid for the Democrats again. Stevenson maintained diplomatic vagueness on civil rights, and his choice of the reluctant but still recognizable segregationist Senator John Sparkman of Alabama for Vice President helped nail down the Old Confederacy. Taft and Driscoll were known for supporting civil rights. Indeed, Taft had shown some courage in opposing the Ku Klux Klan when it had some influence in Ohio politics in the 1920s. Ironically, there is some evidence that Dwight Eisenhower, the candidate of the moderate Republican wing, was cool to equal rights, while staunch conservative Taft was counted as a friend of the negro.

And in the northern industrial states, the economic issue was helping the Democrats. Taft even seemed to be fumbling the issues of Communism and Korea. He opposed Communism but seemed relatively indifferent to alleged Communist infiltration of American institutions. And on Korea he seemed uncharistically incoherent ... supporting General MacArthur one day but inveighing against involvement in foreign wars the next day.

All of this led Harry Truman to believe that in spite of his abysmal approval ratings, somehow the American people would affirm his leadership by electing the candidate he had pushed forward in the first place ... he could not help but feel vindicated, despite the distance that Stevenson kept from him.

But then, on October 22, Taft would show that he understood politics and public relations better than many had given him credit for ..."
 
The New York Herald Tribune
October 22, 1952

Eisenhower Will Go To Korea, Pledges Taft;
Promises "Honorable End" To War


 

maverick

Banned
Ah, interesting turn, I can only hopes this turns out well.

It is nevertheless a pity that Taft won't be able to serve his term to its fullness
 
The New York Times
November 4, 1952

TAFT BEATS STEVENSON IN CLOSE RACE;
GOP WINS STATE BY THIN MARGIN;
NO NET CHANGE IN US SENATE


Taft Wins Electoral Vote 306-225; Popular Vote Nearly Even

Closest Election Since 1916 (or even 1884);

Congress Remains Democratic;
No Net Change in US Senate; Slight GOP Gains in House

South is Solid for Stevenson;
Close Vote in Virginia, Florida and Texas

New York State Goes for Taft, 50-49%;
Stevenson Wins City by Wide Margin

In Surprise, Democrats Win Pennsylvania;
State Shifts from 1948

GOP Wins New Jersey; Driscoll Considered Key

Taft Sweeps Western States

Analysis: Eisenhower Pledge Gave Taft the Victory
 
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From "Truman," by David McCulloch:

Although the President was gratified at the close vote, he was nonetheless disappointed that Stevenson fell just short. Ironically, because of a much higher turnout, Stevenson received many more votes in losing than Truman had in winning back in 1948. Stevenson's nearly 30 million votes was the second highest number of votes ever received in a Presidential election, with the exception of Senator Taft's total ... and the difference was a bare 300,000 vote margin.


From "Eisenhower, The Statesman" by David Ambrose:

Ike was pleased to be given credit for the razor-thin Republican victory in November. After his convention loss to Taft, he was looking at retirement from public life. But just as Earl Warren had put Taft in his debt (when Ike thought of Warren his hand clenched his pencil so tightly it broke into two pieces), so Eisenhower knew Taft would owe him for his pledge to go to Korea in the event Taft won the election.

Sometimes the General would muse that if HE had been leading the ticket, they may have done even better. But he had leveraged his own fame to his maximum advantage. He would continue to serve the country under a President Taft ... although Eisenhower, being a proud man, thought of himself serving "with" a President Taft, not "under."

From "American In Search of Itself; The Making of the President, 1952-1980," by Theodore White

Adlai Stevenson had fought the strongest possible race and had nearly won. Economic issues helped the Democrats win Pennsylvania and Stevenson's home state of Illinois. And Stevenson had been allowed to finesse the issue of civil rights well enough to carry the white south. FDR's old formula of economic populism along with vagueness on civil rights had worked once again. But there were warning signs: the GOP share of the black vote had risen since 1948.
 
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